Chapter 66: Never Let Him Know You’re a Softie
Among the five people, due to the nature of their skills, the Wandering Apprentice Medvedeva and the Priest Apprentice Daphne were barely affected by his influence.
But Levin, Doyle, and Oliver were different. Gauss’s efficiency in easily killing monsters directly made their skills obsolete; they also needed monsters to hone their own techniques.
But now, often just as they had finished warming up, the battle was over.
In the long run, skills would deteriorate.
Their pride wouldn’t allow them to ask Gauss to hold back and let them handle enemies he could easily kill.
So naturally, they could only part ways temporarily.
Gauss vaguely expected this.
Regarding the others’ decision, he didn’t have any strong negative emotions and understood their choice.
A considerable number of adventurers are idealists who embark on this difficult path, disregarding life and death, for their own extraordinary dreams.
Objectively speaking, his rate of progress indeed created a divide with the Night Owl Squad.
Even if it wasn’t mentioned this time, parting was only a matter of time; at least now, they could part on good terms.
It’s just that he was back to being alone again. Gauss stretched lazily.
Being a loner has its advantages and disadvantages.
It’s freer, but also more dangerous.
Take one step at a time.
At least now, compared to a month ago, he had developed some ability to protect himself.
In terms of individual strength, he was considered top-notch among bottom adventurers who hadn’t ascended to a profession.
Bottom adventurers don’t actually have that many flashy abilities; they mainly rely on their weapons to clash head-on with enemies.
Although he was cautious by nature, he wasn’t inherently timid. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to hunt goblins with a small wooden spear when he first arrived in this world.
...
By the yellow and green wheat fields, a figure carrying a backpack was walking at a steady pace.
Under the fringe of black hair bangs, a pair of jade-colored eyes continuously scanned the surroundings.
Gauss looked at the furrows.
His gaze vigilant as he swept over the surroundings.
After temporarily returning to a solo state, he didn’t look to temporarily join another team.
It wasn’t because he couldn’t move on from the last team or any other nonsense like that. After all, forming and breaking up, gathering and dispersing, is a norm for adventure squads in this world.
He was simply a bit lazy. The thought of getting to know a bunch of strangers again made him prefer taking simpler solo commissions first.
Since he was alone, he chose a commission located north of Gray Rock Town this time.
Was there any particular reason for this choice?
Naturally, it was safer. Geographically, Gray Rock Town is situated in the southern reaches of the kingdom, and Jade Forest lies to the south of Gray Rock Town. If viewed from a very high altitude, it’s almost like a bay encircling Gray Rock Town on three sides, with a large cleared area in the middle.
The further north you go, the stronger the influence of human civilization becomes.
Consequently, the chance of encountering powerful monsters in the wild is less than in the south.
Unless you’re really unlucky and happen to run into a monster with a challenge level that has wandered north, but if that unfortunate event happens, you can only consider it bad luck.
"The target for this task is still goblins." Gauss looked at the task commission slip.
Although the probability of encountering powerful monsters decreases the further north you go, bottom-tier goblins are still as pervasive as ever, impossible to eradicate.
Initially, he was very curious, but now he slowly came to understand the shamelessness of the goblin race.
Once a tribe is defeated, goblins start to scatter, as if a code inscribed deep within their genes kicks in. They find a secluded forest to hide, then figure out a way to forcibly mate with other small to medium-sized animals, using their formidable reproduction ability to create a new tribe. Although the individuals thus produced are weak, at least they have a numerical advantage for survival during the early stages.
Even if humans clear out all goblins around them, the southern region, which breeds countless demons, still often has some wild animals giving birth to goblin offspring, eventually leading the malicious goblins into human-inhabited areas. It’s impossible to defend against them all.
It’s said that green-skinned kids, having fully absorbed nutrients from their mothers, can go without food for several days after birth. Within a few days of development, they begin to move and survive by eating fallen leaves, grass roots, and seeds.
Just like some documentaries Gauss watched in his previous life, where fish exist even in small mountain lake pools, the resilience of goblins is similar.
Unless the vast demon realm in the south is completely destroyed, goblins will never be eradicated.
"Found them!"
Suddenly, Gauss saw clear footprints on the ground.
Following the direction of the footprints, he finally saw a few sneaky goblins at the edge of his sight, continuously plucking unripe ears of wheat.
Field thieves!
Yes, some goblins steal human crops for food.
Gauss had heard that originally goblins wouldn’t eat human-cultivated grains. They even have a physiological aversion to them. Given the choice, they’d prefer carrion and insects as quality protein sources, or wild fruits and berries. But at some point, their digestive ability became so strong that they can now consume and digest almost all foods comprehensible and incomprehensible to humans.
"5 goblins, the rest should be in their lair." He patiently observed for a while.
When the goblins were holding a large pile of grain ears, he quietly moved to the side, blocking their retreat path.
The 5 goblins also noticed his presence, their murky eyes wandering around him, and noticing he was alone, they all showed looks of delight.
A lone human!
They preferred fresh meat over grains.
Gauss checked that his Mage Armor was intact before tossing aside his backpack and grabbing his rapier.
With a heavy step forward, his body quickly dashed along the ridge.
"Shhh!"
A flash of the sword!
The goblins, lost in pleasant fantasies, didn’t expect his movements to be so swift.
The sword blade easily sliced through the grain ears. As the blade touched the grain, they burst open like dandelions, the blade cutting through the stalk without hinderance, finally slicing into the goblin’s fragile neck.
Before it even had a chance to react, the first goblin, along with the grain ears it held, was cleanly decapitated.
Dead!
A mix of green and yellow grains and thick blood bloomed like a flower in the afternoon fields.
"First one!"
Gauss quickly turned around, his rapier cutting through a half-circle.
These goblins weren’t armed, and their movements were restricted by the grain ears they were carrying, leaving them with no means of resistance.
"Clang!"
The semi-circular sword edge severed nearby stalks, along with three goblin bodies that fell lifelessly.
Gauss watched the final goblin, terrified, dropping the grains and scrambling away on all fours, but he didn’t rush to chase it.
He glanced at the direction the goblin fled.
Wiping the blood off the sword blade, clearing a bit of the odor from himself, he grabbed his backpack, unhurriedly following.
He had, of course, intentionally left one as a guide.
"Monsters killed: 82."
Having just killed 4 goblins, plus encountering 3 slimes near a pond while fetching water, which he handily dealt with, he reached this count.
Getting closer to the milestone of 100.
He planned to stay around the nearby village for a few days; in the morning, he learned from a conversation with the village chief that there were similar wheat field rats in nearby villages.
These rats undoubtedly would be his best upgrade nourishment. Long engaged in theft, they had developed a tendency to hide and avoid confrontation.
Incidentally, what he liked most was squeezing soft targets.